


Sister-in-Law

by sceawere



Series: 'These Moments' Verse aka John OC Family Verse [4]
Category: Peaky Blinders (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, F/M, Fluff, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 17:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21019538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sceawere/pseuds/sceawere
Summary: Prequel to 'These Moments'. Set after 'School Days', when the pair are teenagers.-“John’s not interested in me. Not like that” You sighed, chucking the empty paper away.She settled into you, hooking her arm through your now free one. “I don’t know, you don’t know him like I do”“You just want another reason for me to be around all the time. This is purely selfish, Ada. You’re projecting” you smiled over at her.





	Sister-in-Law

“How is Freddie?” you asked, bumping shoulders softly with your friend.

Ada side-eyed you as you walked along the street, heading back to her house for the night.

“Shut up!”

“I’m only asking!”

“There was a tone there” she stared your down.

“That’s the tone of ‘I know you guys are together and I can’t believe you didn’t tell me’, Ada. You’re supposed to be my best friend!” you argued, and she scoffed.

“You know about me and Freddie”

You scrunched up your face, reaching to pull the bag of chips you were sharing out of her grasp. “I know you’ve been dancing around each other since we were children. But you never told me you’d made it official”

“We haven’t. Not really. We can’t” she made her displeasure clear.

“Because of Tommy?”

“Because of Tommy” she agreed, and you hummed.

“Well…anyway. How is he?”

“He’s good. How’s my brother?” she threw back.

You picked up a chip and quickly popped it into your mouth.

“I dunno what you’re talking about” you mumbled, eyes suddenly exceptionally interested in the greasy treats before you.

She laughed at the muffled replied and knocked her shoulder into yours.

“Like I haven’t noticed you and John making eyes at each other. He looks like a puppy who wants a belly rub”

You choked on a chip, coughing out into the sooty air. “Oh, Ada. Not a good choice of words”

“Eww…please”

You rolled your eyes and finished off the last of the chips. “I don’t think that’s what’s happening"

“What do you mean?” she flicked the edge of the paper down, hoping to see a few bits left, and tutting when she realised they were all gone.

“John’s not interested in me. Not like that” You sighed, chucking the empty paper away.

She settled into you, hooking her arm through your now free one. “I don’t know, you don’t know him like I do”

“You just want another reason for me to be around all the time. This is purely selfish, Ada. You’re projecting” you smiled over at her.

She rolled her eyes at you but smiled anyway. You reached up and tucked your fingers into her grip, the two of you ambling down the street, throwing words back and forth. She unhooked from you as you reached her doorstep.

“You two need to stop ‘dancing around each other’ and give it a go. I know you both, and if I have to kick your both up the arse, I will” she pointed her finger at you, the way Polly had been increasingly doing to the two of you in recent years. 

The door unlatched beside you as you turned to watch a passing cart. “She being a terror again?”

You swung your head around to where John was stood in the doorway.

“Shove off, John. Move!” Ada pushed passed him through the doorway, leaving you stood awkwardly in the street.

“What’s up with her?” he frowned over he shoulder, before turning back to you.

“Nothing…” You shook your head, hands tucking firmly into your pockets for something to do.

He leant against the door frame, eyeing you. “What were you on about?”

“Nothing” you shrugged, your fingers playing with a loose thread.

He squinted a little at you, quirking an eyebrow as he decided to let it go.

“I’m going down the cut for a smoke, wanna come with me?” he nodded his head to the side, pushing off the wood.

“Oh, uh…”

He scrunched up his face, “You don’t have to, Ada’ll be waiting for you. I just thought-“

“Yeah, no, yeah”

“So, was that a yes or a no?”

“Oh, yes. It was a…” You breathed in, unsure of what to do.

“Right” he turned back into the doorway and shouted down the hallway “Ada, I’m nicking her for a bit. You’ll have to be mardy by yourself”

He pulled the door shut behind him just as Ada’s reply came echoing down the stairs and he laughed to himself a little as he set off.

-

“Want some?” he asked, and your eyes widened.

“Oh, no. I don’t” You shook your head when he offered you the smoke and he nodded back, looking across the murky water.

“Pol won’t let me in the house so I come down here for a bit of peace” he explained, wafting the cigarette about as an exhibit.

You were sat on the cold concrete of a loading dock, legs trailing over to the water below. It was chilly out and you had your arms wrapped tight around your chest, trying to contain the warmth.

“She’s trying to look out for you” you said, and he hummed, taking a deep drag.

“She’s not mum. She’s trying to be”

Your eyebrows tightened a little at the accusation. “She does a good job”

“She’s not my mum though”

You looked over at him, trailing your eyes over his profile. You and Ada had been friends basically all your life, from the day you’d pushed each other in a muddy puddle over some stupid scuffle and had to be pulled off each other by your ears. Polly had made you sit on the step until you apologised to each other and somewhere along the line you’d realised you actually liked each other. John was only a year or two older so he and Ada were like twins but you always felt like her annoying baby friend with a stupid crush.

“Ada hasn’t talked about her in a while. I think she’s just put it all on Polly and got on with it, you know?” you adjusted your arms around yourself.

He nodded slightly, staring down at the water, letting the smoke catch on the breeze.

“Are you alright?” you asked, a question that had remained unspoken between the two of you for too long.

He flicked his eyes over to you, inclining his head just enough. He let his eyes drift over your face for a moment before he blinked and looked back down.

“Yeah. I’m fine”

“If you need to talk about it, I can-“

“I don’t”

You took a deep breath, the cold air burning at your throat. “Alright. Just, with it being a year, I thought you might be thinking about it again and-“

“I’m not” he cut in, and you nodded, realising you were doing no good pushing this line.

“Alright”

You looked back out, watching a leaf floating passed slowly, dancing in the flow of the water. You toed it back away from the wall and waited for John to restart the conversation.

“Finn still cries for her” he spoke uncertainly, testing out whether speaking the words was what he really wanted to do. Whether taking them out of his head and putting them into the world was opening a door that should stay firmly locked and barred.

“He’s only little, he doesn’t understand” you replied, shaking your head.

He scoffed, “Neither do I, sometimes”.

He looked back down to the water, flicking off a build up of ash.

“Can I say something that might piss you off?” you tried, and he quirked a brow, eyeing you again.

“You’re going to say it anyway” he shrugged.

You smirked at him, shaking your head.

“You don’t have to be as strong as you’re trying to be” you said.

He furrowed his brow at you.

“I see you, pretending that nothing bothers you. I’ve known you forever, Johnny, don’t think I don’t see it. You’re allowed to be things other than angry. I wish boys would just fucking cry sometimes, it pisses me off that you try to be big men all the time and you won’t let yourselves deal with things” you continued.

“I’m not going to fucking cry about it” he frowned, and you mirrored the expression.

“Why not? Your mother died. It was quick and wrong and too soon. Be upset. If you want to be.

But don’t try to be brave because…ever since your dad left, you’ve tried to fill the space for Finn. And I love that about you, John, I do.

But you were a fucking kid and it was wrong that you had to do that. A 14 year old shouldn’t have had that weight on them. I mean, you’re 18 and you’ve already basically been a dad for 4 years, that’s ridiculous. You didn’t choose this.”

He looked away. “It’s not like that. Arthur and Tommy do the most”

You pushed on, insistent. “Not for Finn. You’re his dad, trust me. I’ve seen you with him”

His lips quirked at the side, not quite letting himself smile.

“I can’t imagine having a 5 year old at this age, uhh” You shivered, half from the cold, half from the thought.

“You’d be a good mum” he said, and you stalled. 

“You think?”

“Yeah, the best” he continued.

You smiled, turning to him slowly.

“You think?”

He let himself smile now, throwing the burnt out cig out onto the water.

“You can have Finn if you want” he offered, and you pushed his shoulder.

“Shut up! I’ve not really thought about being a mum…I mean I know it’ll happen one day, probably. Not yet though. I can barely keep my cat going, who’d have a baby with me?” you sniffled.

He laughed at you, shuffling over, wrapping his arm around your shoulders when he saw you shivering again.

“I’d have a baby with you” he decided, and you scoffed.

“Not getting a lot recently? Having to widen your options a little?”

“Shut up, that’s not what I meant. I would though, you’d be a good mum”

You bit your lip, looking up at him. He swallowed, cleared his throat, and looked down at you out the corner of his eye.

“I mean…not that…forget I said anything” He wiped his nose and refused to look at you.

“They’d be a fucking terror, can you imagine?” you said after a pause.

He laughed, the tension broken.

“We’d have to leave the street, they’d run us out” he agreed.

“Where would we go?”

“Uhh…I dunno. Where’d you think?” he asked, and you flicked your eyes up, thinking.

“I like those new ones up by the old school”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. They have gardens, John. Not yards. Grass and everything” you emphasised, thinking to the beautiful rose bushes you'd walked passed and fawned over many a time since they'd been put in at the start of the year.

He smiled at you, nodding.

“And they’re contained so the kids could run up and down and not bother no one” you continued your breakdown of the benefits of this hypothetical plan.

“Alright, we’ll go there then” He slapped the concrete on the opposite side of you, his other arm still tucked tightly around you, bathing heat over your side.

“You’re gonna need a good job if you’re gonna keep us going” you posed, and he nodded.

“Tommy’s talking about working with horses. Maybe training them and that. There’s good money in races”

“Well, I’m gonna need a nice dress if you’re taking me the races”

“You have nice dresses anyway” his hand rubbed up and down your elbow as he spoke.

“Not posh ones. If I’m gonna be a fancy man’s wife, I need to look the part”

“I’ll get you a posh dress” he agreed, and you smiled.

“Alright then, Mr Shelby”

“Alright then, Mrs Shelby”

You both laughed but when you stilled you both realised how close you were sat to each other and the air changed. His eyes flicked down to where your lip was pulled between your teeth and you swore he must have been leaning in when Ada’s voice tore through the bay.

“Oi, you two! Polly said if you’re not in for tea in-oh”

John pulled away from you so fast he almost smacked your head with a stray arm on the way past and you had to dodge, nearly tipping yourself into the water.

Ada was smiling ear to ear when you turned around, pulling your legs up over the edge, and swiping the dust off the back of your dress.

“Shut up!” You whispered at her as you passed, following after where John was already 10 paces ahead.

“I fucking knew it!” she accused and you waved a swift hand behind you.

She ran after you, locking arms with you and laughing silently to herself as you walked.

“Shut up!” You punched at her gut, losing your swing when she gripped your arm, only making her laugh harder.

“Will the two of you stop pissing about before Polly leathers the lot of us?” John raised his arms wide, trying to rush you.

“Johnny and-“

“If you sing in a fucking tree, I will chuck you back in that cut and leave you there” you spat into her ear, mortified at the turn this had all taken.

She shrugged, unaffected by your hollow words, “It’s alright I can swim”

“Oh can you? Can you swim through the mountain of shit that will come down on your head should I tell Tommy about you and Freddie?” you posed.

She stilled instantly.

“You wouldn’t”

You quirked your eyebrow at her, tilting your head. “Wouldn’t I?”

John jogged back, looping around the back of you, and shoving you both towards the direction of the house, “Oi! What did I just say? Both of you, now, let’s go”


End file.
